by Easton, Meg
Sam nodded. “My dad makes food for them a lot, and he takes me with him every couple of weeks. We dish up the food and sometimes there’s little kids there, too, so I play with them.”
Brooke looked over at Cole as he pointed at something on the screen, a smile on his face as he helped the people. “Your dad’s a pretty cool guy.”
The two hours they had to spend passed too quickly, and Brooke was happy to see that it seemed to be that way for Cole and Sam, too. As they walked out of the building, Cole put his hand in hers. “Do you always come here?”
“Whenever I’m in Los Angeles. In every city I visit, I search out a place to donate money to. It’s not always a refugee center—I just find a place that speaks to my heart. Then no matter how packed the trip is, I find at least two hours to spend volunteering there. It keeps me remembering what is truly important, instead of thinking that fashion is. Fashion and fancy dresses aren’t what make the world go around. People are.”
Cole gave her a look that, for the first time since they’d met, she couldn’t quite read. The look seemed...conflicted. And then the look was gone and he smiled and squeezed her hand.
Chapter Fifteen
Cole had just finished chatting with Sam about school, got her started on her homework at the bar, and headed back in to the kitchen when he heard a text come in on his phone. He pulled out his phone and smiled when he saw it was from Brooke.
I have some time right now. Can we get together with Sam to plan activities for her party?
Cole sighed. Brooke knew he was at work right now. And she knew that his schedule was tight enough that he couldn’t just make a last minute change like that. He sent a reply back to her.
I can’t— dinner prep. 7:00 work instead?
No. :(
I have to be back in the office at 6:30 for a video conference.
He hated spur of the moment changes in plans and how it wreaked havoc on everything. He thought through all he and Hani had to do to get the kitchen ready for the dinner rush before Heather arrived at five thirty to take his place, and it was too much. Especially because it had been a rough, stressful day after getting behind so much from an unplanned trip to Los Angeles. He had been on edge all day.
But they really needed to get this party planned, and he wasn’t sure when Brooke would be available again. After he’d read to Sam last night, he’d spent the rest of the night looking up party ideas and couldn’t wait to share them with Sam and Brooke. He sent a text to Heather asking if she could come in at five instead. Thankfully, he got a quick “Sure thing,” back from her.
Okay, I think I have everything worked out so I can be off at 5:00. Will that work?
Brooke responded with two thumbs-up emojis, so Cole texted his mother-in-law to let her know that she didn’t need to stop by the restaurant to pick up Sam and then started prepping the food double-time so he could finish early.
He kept looking out to the lobby to check on Sam and fifteen minutes later, he saw Brooke come in and sit next to her. He glanced at the clock—it was barely after four. He was surprised that Brooke had the extra time to hang out with Sam before they were meeting.
Since he knew Sam was being taken care of in the lobby, Cole threw all his attention into prepping quickly, so as soon as Heather showed up, he was ready to leave. When he left the kitchen, he took a table and chairs in the side room where the tower slide was, so they could plan in the room where it would happen.
“Daddy,” Sam said, “you are going to be so excited. Me and Brooke talked about the party and we practically have the whole thing planned now.”
Cole’s eyebrows drew together. “You already planned it?” He tried to not let the hurt and disappointment come out in his voice. He told Brooke he couldn’t get free until five. Why did they start early?
“Yep! We decided to just have a bunch of fun things, and kids can go to whatever they want to go to. We can set up musical thrones, pin the kiss on the frog, a dress-up relay race, and a game where we blow up a bunch of balloons and put toy dragons inside. And we get those plastic swords that are like this long and give one to everyone, and then you have to try to free the dragons by stabbing the balloon to pop it and set the dragon free.”
Instead of the fun party he’d been imagining all along, this was sounding like it was going to be pure chaos.
“Sam,” Brooke said, her eyes on Cole, “I think your dad has some ideas for the party he’d like to share.”
“You do?” Sam said, scooting her chair in and putting her hands on the table, all attention on him. “Tell us!”
He shot Brooke a grateful look, happy that she always picked up on things like that. “I was looking on the internet last night and I found a bunch of ideas. This is a big space. I thought we could have a bunch of different stations all around the room. I can make some giant sugar cookies in the shape of crowns, or dukes and duchesses, or those staffs that royalty holds, or even a glass slipper. Then one of the stations can be decorating the cookies.
“At another station, we could have it be about Rapunzel’s long hair, and cut three really long pieces of yarn and tie a knot at one end. Then we could split everyone up in fours, and one person would hold the end with the knot, and the other three would each hold one of the other ends, and then the three people would have to weave in and out of each other to braid the really long hair.
“Oh, you know those paper crowns that you can size to fit your head? Well, I found some gems with sticky backs. We could have a crown decorating station where everyone gets to design their own.
“And then, I don’t know, a coloring station or something. And, of course, a station where they go down the tower slide.”
Sam was grinning. “Those are great ideas, too!”
He was pretty darn proud of himself for coming up with such a great list of ideas for a ten-year-old girl’s party. He’d had his eyes on Sam while he’d been explaining them, but now that he glanced at Brooke, he noticed that she had shifted back in her chair. He scratched his temple. “You don’t like them?”
“No,” Brooke said, sitting up straighter. “I think they’re great ideas. It’s just...there’s twenty-one kids coming to this party, and I bet they’re going to be bouncing off the walls. I think you might want to channel that energy into playing more active games. If you try to get them to do a bunch of activities where they have to sit and calmly work on crafts, it might backfire.”
Cole shook his head. He might have thought that at some point, too. “I’ve helped out at Sam’s school parties before. They always do stations so that the kids don’t get too wild and crazy.”
“But that’s at school. A place where they are used to having to sit and calmly work on things. You get them in a different environment, and sugar cookie decorating is going to turn into an activity of throwing the candies around the room or seeing who can get the most frosting on each other. If you have lots of high-energy games spread all around, not only will they have more fun, but they won’t be spending their energy in ways that are even crazier.”
Cole shook his head. Brooke seemed to be getting frustrated, but he’d experienced enough parties to know he was right. “If you take twenty-one already excited kids and have them do something wild, you’ll unleash chaos.”
He could Brooke she had more to say, but instead she just gave him a nod. “I’m sure you’re right.” Her phone buzzed and she picked it up off the table, glanced at it for a moment, then said, “I know I was supposed to leave for New York in four days. But I’m sorry; it looks like I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning instead. And I can’t stay any longer tonight.”
Brooke pushed back her chair and stood up, then leaned over and gave Sam a hug. “I’m so sorry I have to go. I’ll see you in six days.” She held a hand out toward Cole for a moment, but before he even had a chance to stand up or reach out his hand to hold hers, she’d dropped it, turned, and walked out of the room and out of the restaurant.
An uncomfortable heat burned in Cole’
s chest as he stood and watched Brooke walk out, and it was soon joined by a heaviness in his stomach and a feeling of utter wrongness. He could tell that there was so much more to Brooke’s leaving than a simple disagreement. But it was still very much about him.
Cole hadn’t noticed that Sam had stood up until she wrapped both her arms around his arm and leaned her head against it. He looked down to see a tear rolling down her cheek. “Sam,” he said, knowing how much this must be affecting her. “Are you okay?”
“She said she was going to ask you about having me go to her house tomorrow night to work on decorations.” Her voice was quavering, about to break. “She said we were, and now we aren’t. My fairy godmother isn’t going to be around to get ready for the party, just like in the book.” Sam let go of his arm and turned and buried her face in his side.
Cole put his hand on her back to comfort her as she shook with silent sobs. Sam was always sad when Brooke left on trips. But after all the extra time they had been spending together because of the party and the trip and the fact that he and Brooke were dating now, this was different.
And this time, she had made plans with Sam and then walked away from them without even apologizing. This time was hurting her so much more.
He could tell by the shallowness of Sam’s hitched breathing that she was trying hard not to cry. Knowing Sam, she was probably thinking of his feelings and how this probably hurt him, too, so she wasn’t wanting to cause him more pain by showing that she was upset. Which only served to make him feel worse. He held his arm around her a little bit tighter.
Ever since Amanda had died, Cole had worked hard to give Sam all the stability he could. He knew she needed it and he tried to make sure she had it. But now he was practically inviting instability in.
Chapter Sixteen
As Brooke left the side room of Back Porch Grill in her attempt to leave, she ran into the socializing crowd of people waiting to be seated in the restaurant. She saw an opening and maneuvered around a couple of people to get there, but then two people who didn’t notice her intense need to leave but did notice each other came together to hug, cutting her off. She went around them, only to get stopped by Mrs. Davenport’s hand on her arm.
“So good to see you, Brooke, honey! I heard you and Cole were dating and I just wanted to let you know that I think that is wonderful, just wonderful.”
Hannah, a woman in her mid-twenties who had her hand slipped into her husband’s, piped in and said, “We agree. Tyler and I have been rooting for you two for a long time.”
From the other side of the waiting area, Clifton, a big man with a booming voice, said, “When I saw the two of you back there cooking together the other day, even my heart melted a little bit.”
Brooke smiled and nodded and said thanks and tried to be gracious all while trying her hardest to get out of the building as quickly as possible and away from the frustrating partnership and the people who wouldn’t stop talking about it.
Finally, she made it to the door and burst out onto the cool evening air of Main Street.
Her whole life, her dad had told her that equal partnerships didn’t work out. And, even though it had been a small disagreement and not something even remotely life-altering, it still showcased that fact. Disagreements were bound to happen. And as equals in a relationship, there wasn’t one with authority. Seniority. Veto power.
This was one small issue, but in a long-term relationship, they were bound to run into dozens more, and with much bigger consequences.
The text message she had gotten had been from Delbrina, and just said that they had news to tell her and to come back soon. But after her mental image of a lifetime spent with Cole, where any decision they would face moved at the speed of a committee, the text from Delbrina had provided a good opportunity to leave. She just needed to get away and refocus.
As Brooke walked through Best Dressed and back into her offices, Noemi and Delbrina raced up to her, practically bouncing on their feet, eyes sparkling.
“We just got some great news,” Delbrina said.
Noemi nodded “Really great news. Remember how you said that Van Zandt probably asked for so much to be done and gave a really tight timeline because it would tax each business enough that they would find any flaws? Well, it worked. Lake and Lane just dropped out.”
Brooke blinked, stunned by the unexpected news. Then she looked back at Noemi and Delbrina. “Lane and Lake? Really? That brand is amazing. I thought they had a good chance to win. They dropped out? Did you hear why?”
“I’m friends with Lane’s assistant,” Delbrina said, her words coming out in an excited rush. “And she told me that it’s been a month of Sundays since Lane and Lake agreed on anything. Lake thinks there’s a tree stump in Louisiana swamp with more business sense than Lane. And Lane thinks Lake is as proud as a peacock and about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. So they each pitched a hissy fit with a tail on it, and now they’re calling it quits.”
“They’re going to dissolve the entire company?” Brooke asked.
“They’re fixin’ to.”
Brooke’s legs couldn’t hold her up any longer so she collapsed into one of the padded chairs.
“This is great news,” Noemi said. “Why don’t you look happy?”
No. This was not great news. Brooke had no problem at all competing against anyone in a fair competition. Having competition drop out didn’t excite her. Instead, having a fellow company fail made her business heart hurt. And seeing an amazing partnership of two brilliant minds fall apart because they couldn’t agree caused a pang of fear to pierce her.
Chapter Seventeen
Sam’s natural state was one of happiness. So Cole knew that no matter what happened that made her feel a different emotion, it wouldn’t be long before she would be back to being happy. She had never been a child to mope, wallow, or pout.
So it alarmed him when Sam woke up the next morning and was still so sad. He did everything he could think of that usually made her laugh, including making her smiley pancakes, using crazy voices to pretend like the pancakes were telling her jokes, and even flipping the pancakes high in the air as he turned them over. But nothing worked. Sure, she gave him some attempts at smiles to acknowledge his efforts, but nothing made her smile a genuine smile.
They finished getting ready for school and work, and he drove Sam to Nestled Hollow Elementary. When he pulled into a spot at the drop-off zone in front of the school, Sam reached a hand between the two seats and said, “Hand hug,” like she always did. He reached over and gave her hand a good-bye squeeze.
He was about to pull away, but movement caught his eye and he looked over at Sam, who was waving for him to wait. And then, even though she knew it was against the safety rules, she came around to the driver’s side of the car and opened his door. Without a word, she leaned in and gave him a tight hug, holding on longer than he expected.
As he hugged her back, he said, “I’m sorry things are tough right now.”
She released the hug, then gave him a sad smile and said, “I’m sorry they are for you, too, Daddy.” Then she hurried into school.
He shut the door and had almost pulled out of the school lot before the hurt and loneliness hit him hard. Being focused on Sam and her emotions had allowed him to ignore his own, and now that she was off to school, he was feeling it. Brooke might not have even left for the airport yet, but he was still feeling the pain of her leaving so much more strongly than he ever had during their years of friendship.
As he got closer to the restaurant, he decided that he couldn’t face a lifetime of Brooke leaving so often, not knowing when a trip was suddenly going to become more important to her than he or Sam was. He knew how easily Brooke could become so deeply entrenched in his heart that he’d never recover, because of how hard he’d had to work over the past two and a half years to not let that happen.
But if he was going to let her in, he wanted to be equally entrenched in her heart, too. But now that he’d
seen firsthand what the other half of Brooke’s life was like from their trip to Los Angeles, he knew he would never be able to compete for that spot.
Instead of pulling into the back parking lot of Back Porch Grill from First Street, like normal, he turned off Main Street at Center, so he could see the parking lot behind Best Dressed. Brooke’s car was in its usual spot, Noemi’s and Delbrina’s next to it. He turned and drove to the parking lot behind the restaurant, parked, and looked Brooke’s direction when he stepped out of his car. He should take this chance to go talk to her before she left. Maybe all they needed was to talk.
He walked the block down Main Street and entered Best Dressed through the front door. Immediately he could hear the voices of Brooke and her employees having a conversation loud enough to make it to the front of the store, and it was obvious that none of them had heard the bell on the door. Maybe now was a bad time.
He was turning to leave, but he stopped when he heard Noemi say, “All because you didn’t agree on what games to play at a ten-year-old’s party.”
“It’s not about the party.”
Cole took a few steps toward Brooke’s offices, but halted, undecided whether he should stay or go.
“Well,” Delbrina said, “it sounds to me like you’re just running away from the problem instead of dealing with it.”
“I’m not running away from a problem,” Brooke said. “I’m running toward a bigger problem. I need to prioritize here.”
Cole couldn’t see any of them, but Brooke’s voice got quieter and louder, like she was moving from spot to spot and maybe bending down behind objects to pick up things. With the other sounds he was hearing, he figured she was probably preparing all the stuff she needed to take with her to New York.
